Retailers must get emotional for Black Friday, Persado

Brands should focus on emotions, rather than deals, to break through to UK consumers facing email overload this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to Persado.

The provider of AI-generated marketing language analysed email subject lines from 50 UK retailers and travel companies, revealing the five top emotions that UK consumers were most likely to engage with over the Black Friday period: Despite being the most-used emotion, comprising over 20% of emails sent, urgency language (“Hurry” or “Time’s running out”) did not engage consumers the most, lagging behind Challenge, Intimacy, Encouragement, Guilt and Fascination.

Marketers sent 55% more messages last Black Friday than in 2015, and 42% more for Cyber Monday. “As Black Friday and Cyber Monday become increasingly crucial for the UK market, it’s only natural that brands react by trying to shout the loudest to attract attention,” says Assaf Baciu, Co-Founder and SVP Product & Engineering, Persado. “To rise above the noise, businesses need to avoid taking a ‘me-too’ attitude, and instead elevate their marketing messages to communicate with customers on an emotional level. Put simply, focusing on the language and emotions that resonate, combined with the attractiveness of their offers, can be key to success.”